The present application relates to securing of laptop computers or portable devices.
Miniaturization and increases in reliability have enabled electronic devices that are portable and can be easily transported with users as they travel to different locations. This has empowered users with a great deal of flexibility in that the data being stored on the data storage device is available to the user even at a different location. A common example of this may be a laptop or portable computer, which may use a smaller hard disk drive with a smaller form factor to enhance portability. For example, a laptop computer can be used at work, and then transported to a different building at work or moved home for continued use at a different location.
However, as electronic devices become more portable, there is also an increasing probability that the electronic devices will become lost or stolen as users operate the electronic devices in different locations. The electronic device may be accidentally left behind, forgotten in transit, misplaced, or stolen by others. Not only does this present a problem in that the electronic device is no longer available to the user, but any data stored on the device may be easily obtainable by a third party. Any sensitive information such as business plans, financial information, or company data that was present on the data storage device within the electronic device may now be available to a third party. As can be expected, this poses a significant problem to the owner of the laptop and/or the company.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20080141041 discloses a wireless encryption key integrated storage system to prevent unauthorized access of data stored on the storage device without secure authentication between the storage device and a key device. In one embodiment, a data storage device comprises a magnetic disk; a head assembly having a read/write head which read and write data from/on the magnetic disk; a wireless transceiver configured to receive and transmit wireless signals from a key device, the wireless signals comprising information used to establish a secure authorization between the data storage device and the key device to access secured content in the magnetic disk; and a processor configured to encrypt/decrypt data transferred between the data storage device and the key device.